My dog was attacked at the dog park.

[Baitball Blogger]

We both caught on that something was different with the small group of dogs that were there when we arrived in the morning. There were four dogs in the park and none of them ran up to greet her as in previous visits. There are always a good diverse group of dogs, and someone is willing to run with her, but I think these dogs belonged to owners that come by on a daily basis and the dogs were not in a playful mood. They remain close to their owners and my dog went to join them, which is something she has done on previous trips without any problem.

This time was different and I could tell she knew something was wrong and nervously looked in my direction several times. Without warning, I watched from the other side of the park as a dog twice her size took her down. It was a dog fight and it didn't even look like my dog had a chance to fight back. Later, one of the men said that the black dog that attacked her gets jealous and sometimes displays issues with other dogs.

Long story short, my dog has puncture wounds in her neck and back. We'll obviously avoid that hour of the day because all of our other visits have been positive. But I'm thinking that I should take a spray bottle filled with water in case something like that happens again.

Anybody else have any other ideas?

[Throd]

1. My dog was attacked at a dog park 2 weeks ago.

I snatched my dog up and yelled at the other dog's owner "What the hell is your dog's problem? Why the fuck would you bring a dog like that to the dog park!"

It made for a very uncomfortable scene.

[IDemo]

2. We have a dog park a five minute walk from our house

We stopped taking any of our three dogs there over a year ago because of a couple of bad incidents. I don't have excess money for vet bills or the patience to deal nicely with dog owners who cannot or will not control their dogs.

[TuxedoKat]

3. Wow

sorry that happened that's awful and you must have been so scared for your dog. The spray bottle is at least a start maybe to deter another dog from coming close -- dogs hate to be startled (you need to spray them when they don't see it coming) but in the thick of a fight I don't know that that would break up a dog fight. You could also bring a tightly rolled up thick newspaper to throw near a badly-behaving dog to startle it. The dog then associates the bad behavior it's doing with being startled and hopefully won't repeat it. I would also keep my dog closer to me on a leash until I was sure she was safe with the other dogs. It's outrageous when people with aggressive dogs won't control them. Is your dog up to date on her Rabies shots, etc.?

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Totally up to date with her shots.

I'll see the vet next week and will mention it to her.

I knew something was off, but didn't have the experience to predict what was going to happen. At least next time my dog won't fight me when I escort her to another fenced in area.

[Oneironaut]

5. Why do people take obviously aggressive dogs to dog parks?

I stopped going for this very reason. People would dump their aggressive dog off, and watch as it either doesn't play with the other dogs, or growls (or worse) at them. What's the point?

I can't risk it. Too many bad owners out there with no common sense.

[pinboy3niner]

6. You might try an air horn

The aerosol can kind. You wouldn't need to be close to the fight to instantly disrupt it.

[Laffy Kat]

7. Yes, but that will scare all the dogs.

I've used breath spray before. They hate it but it doesn't hurt them as long as you use the type withOUT Xylitol.

[avebury]

8. You might also take a sturdy stick.

There are people who allow their dogs to roam around where I live. I learned to take a sturdy stick with me when I walked my dog. I used the stick to keep any aggressive dog from getting close enough to attack either myself or my dog.

A cellphone at hand to snap pictures of the offending dog and owner would be helpful to post on FB to alert other dog owners in the area. Years ago a woman's dog attacked my dog and the woman did absolutley nothing. She didn't even get after her dog. She didn't apologize. Sandy was a total sweetheart who ended up with an injury close to one of her eyes. We never went back because it is just too much of a risk to take a dog to a dog park. I just don't trust the other owners and what they are letting loose on other unsuspecting owners.